Reports on October 3rd - Day Against DRM

Submitted by Gregory Heller on October 10, 2006 - 3:13pm

October 3rd, Day Against DRM was a huge success - thank you to the thousands of people who took part in actions around the globe, both big and small, to spread the word about the dangers of DRM. Thousands of emails were sent from the DefectiveByDesign site to friends and relatives warning them about DRM. We distributed one hundred and fifty thousand stickers, and you used them in more than two hundred organized meet-ups to get the message out. The reports from the protests outside the flagship Apple stores in London and New York showed people were having a lot of fun. Some of you got dressed up in Hazmat suits and educated shoppers and commuters, others blogged about anti-DRM activities, many submitted amazing photos. In Paris StopDRM.info activists took it to another level and handed themselves in to police for breaking French DRM laws. Our friends at Free Culture ran a video competition that resulted in some truly wonderful submissions, and more than 80,000 people have viewed the winning submissions!

Here is a selection of the best news reports:

Beta News asks Will EU Consumers Choose DRM or Double-Taxation? and reports that our protests on October 3rd are increasing the pressure on device manufacturers and law makers to pay attention to the DRM issue.
With protests worldwide yesterday to mark the "Day Against DRM," today was not the day either for lawmakers or electronics industry executives to be touting digital rights management as a populist cause. Probably for this reason, today's public call for fairness in taxation from Nokia and Philips appeared "DRM-free."

Reuters did a great job, with their European Technology Correspondent Lucas van Grinsven reporting Rallies protest against limits on digital copying
Free software advocates rallied against certain limits on copying music and films on Tuesday in a global "Day against DRM" (Digital Rights Management), saying consumers are robbed of their fair-use rights as entertainment goes digital and online.

The first News reports to hit the wire came from Australia, with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting Anti-DRM protests kick off worldwide - Honk if you disapprove of DRM
Hundreds of supporters have already pledged to take action across a wide cross-section of the world's cities from Washington to Tel-Aviv, with most activities focusing on dissemination of leaflets to the public and "stickering" displays of products in shops deemed to be "defective".

ZDNet 's Dan Berlinds asks October 3, 2006: DRM lovers’ day of reckoning?
...I get the sense that those who vociferously oppose DRM feel as though they are out of options and that time is running out before a certain point of no return (where DRM leaves an indelible stain on the world's culture) comes and goes. On that point, I definitely agree.

Dan's right, we think action now is a must!

BoingBoing.net said it all with Today is October 3, the International Day Against DRM
the first global day where people rise up and say no to anti-copying technology that treats you like a crook. Remember, DRM doesn't stop "piracy" -- the only people who get DRM infections are people who don't pirate their media. You get DRM by buying your movies, music, games and books through authorized channels -- the stuff you download from P2P or buy off of a blanket at a flea-market has already had the DRM cracked off of it. They say that DRM "keeps honest people honest" -- but all it does is keep honest people in chains.

Wow!

Slashdot pick up on the debate withone of our quotes:
Defeating DRM is all about awareness. The direct actions that we have taken are all about this. Today we are asking you to let the people around you know that DRM is bad for our society. Let's create space for the debate. Do we want handcuffs and locks on art and knowledge? As our friends at Disney recognize, if there is this debate, we will have won.'